“Someone misspoke on our Mass Effect channel,” Bioware Community Manager Jessica Merizan was quick to tweet, but the backlash was so intense that the company released a statement to their message boards and Facebook page.

“We are aware that there are concerns about a recent post from this account regarding the ending of the game,” the statement reads. “In this post it was stated that at this time we do not have plans to change the ending.”

“We would like to clarify that we are actively and seriously taking all player feedback into consideration and have ruled nothing out. At this time we are still collecting and considering your feedback and have not made a decision regarding requests to change the ending.”

“Your feedback and opinions are of the utmost importance to us. We apologize for any confusion this has caused. Our top priority regarding this discussion is to keep communication with you, our loyal fans, open and productive.”

Bioware’s strategy in handling the fan backlash to the ending of the game has been nothing short of comprehensive. Director Casey Hudson called the concerns “valid” whilst Bioware community reps are promising fans that they’re listening so frequently Twitter is mistaking them for spam bots.

[Update] Mass Effect 3 executive producer Casey Hudson has issued the following statement on Mass Effect 3's endings:
There’s been a lot of discussion and debate about the conclusion of Mass Effect 3, so I thought I’d share my perspective with you here. I’ll avoid outright spoilers, but I’d still recommend finishing the game and experiencing it for yourself before reading this.

For the last eight years, Mass Effect has been a labor of love for our team; love for the characters we’ve created, for the medium of video games, and for the fans that have supported us. For us and for you, Mass Effect 3 had to live up to a lot of expectations, not only for a great gaming experience, but for a resolution to the countless storylines and decisions you’ve made as a player since the journey began in 2007. So we designed Mass Effect 3 to be a series of endings to key plots and storylines, each culminating in scenes that show you the consequences of your actions. You then carry the knowledge of these consequences with you as you complete the final moments of your journey.

We always intended that the scale of the conflict and the underlying theme of sacrifice would lead to a bittersweet ending—to do otherwise would betray the agonizing decisions Shepard had to make along the way. Still, we wanted to give players the chance to experience an inspiring and uplifting ending; in a story where you face a hopeless struggle for basic survival, we see the final moments and imagery as offering victory and hope in the context of sacrifice and reflection.
We've had some incredibly positive reactions to Mass Effect 3, from the New York Times declaring it “a gripping, coherent triumph”, to Penny Arcade calling it “an amazing accomplishment”, to emails and tweets from players who have given us the most profound words of appreciation we've ever received.

But we also recognize that some of our most passionate fans needed more closure, more answers, and more time to say goodbye to their stories—and these comments are equally valid. Player feedback such as this has always been an essential ingredient in the development of the series.

I am extremely proud of what this team has accomplished, from the first art concepts for the Mass Effect universe to the final moments of Mass Effect 3. But we didn't do it on our own. Over the course of the series, Mass Effect has been a shared experience between the development team and our fans—not just a shared experience in playing the games, but in designing and developing them. An outpouring of love for Garrus and Tali led to their inclusion as love interests in Mass Effect 2. A request for deeper RPG systems led to key design changes in Mass Effect 3. Your feedback has always mattered. Mass Effect is a collaboration between developers and players, and we continue to listen.
So where do we go from here? Throughout the next year, we will support Mass Effect 3 by working on new content. And we’ll keep listening, because your insights and constructive feedback will help determine what that content should be. This is not the last you’ll hear of Commander Shepard.

We look forward to your continued support and involvement as we work together to shape the remaining experiences in the story of the Mass Effect trilogy.

Thanks for taking this journey with us.
Casey Hudson

[Original Story] Following fan outrage and a number of online petitions, BioWare said today it will discuss the endings to Mass Effect 3 in due time.

BioWare said its listening to what fans are saying and are waiting until more people finish the game. "We appreciate everyone’s feedback about Mass Effect 3 and want you to know that we are listening," BioWare community manager Chris Priestly wrote on the official forums.

"Active discussions about the ending are more than welcome here, and the team will be reviewing it for feedback and responding when we can. Please note, we want to give people time to experience the game so while we can’t get into specifics right now, we will be able to address some of your questions once more people have had time to complete the game.

"In the meantime, we’d like to ask that you keep the non-spoiler areas of our forums and our social media channels spoiler free. We understand there is a lot of debate on the Mass Effect 3 ending and we will be more than happy to engage in healthy discussions once more people get to experience the game.

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New theory has arrived which seems to shed more light on ME3's vauge ending. An user in BSN forum has invented this theory & its gaining popularity rapidly. According to this theory Mass effect Series is actually a prequal of Dragon Age (who knew!!).

Trephinate wrote...

personally i think the only logical - most rational - explanation is that the mass effect series is a prequel to dragon age: that once the reapers were destroyed, the remaining races returned to earth to form the primordial elements of what then become what we see in origins etc. while many fail to acclimatise to the new atmosphere, leaked element zero transforms the resilient survivors and fuels mages with biotic power. for example, the volus, protected by their suits, become the dwarves insulated from biotic powers; elcor undergo metamorphosis from the weakened gravity and become ogres; the turians become the militant qunari; and the quarians, finally freed from their suits, become the mabari. the krogan, however, ditch their armoured plating move into the forrests where the game is a more thrilling hunt, and become the lithe elves. not quite destroyed reaper devices shower the earth from orbit, and without the guidance and benevolent leadership of the starchild, the resulting indoctrinated - or 'darkspawn' as the post-diluvian cultures refer to them - continue an aimless war of annihilation against all organics.

New theory has arrived which seems to shed more light on ME3's vauge ending. An user in BSN forum has invented this theory & its gaining popularity rapidly. According to this theory Mass effect Series is actually a prequal of Dragon Age (who knew!!).

With the entire Internet breaking out in riots over the conclusion of the Mass Effect trilogy and refunds seem to be becoming reality, we can look forward to see how BioWare will try to handle the situation or if they will simply wait it out.

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At last some positive news.

To Mass Effect 3 players, from Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare

As co-founder and GM of BioWare, I’m very proud of the ME3 team; I personally believe Mass Effect 3 is the best work we’ve yet created. So, it’s incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the game’s endings were not up to their expectations. Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics – but out of respect to our fans, we need to accept the criticism and feedback with humility.I believe passionately that games are an art form, and that the power of our medium flows from our audience, who are deeply involved in how the story unfolds, and who have the uncontested right to provide constructive criticism. At the same time, I also believe in and support the artistic choices made by the development team. The team and I have been thinking hard about how to best address the comments on ME3’s endings from players, while still maintaining the artistic integrity of the game.Mass Effect 3 concludes a trilogy with so much player control and ownership of the story that it was hard for us to predict the range of emotions players would feel when they finished playing through it. The journey you undertake in Mass Effect provokes an intense range of highly personal emotions in the player; even so, the passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us. This is an issue we care about deeply, and we will respond to it in a fair and timely way. We’re already working hard to do that.To that end, since the game launched, the team has been poring over everything they can find about reactions to the game – industry press, forums, Facebook, and Twitter, just to name a few. The Mass Effect team, like other teams across the BioWare Label within EA, consists of passionate people who work hard for the love of creating experiences that excite and delight our fans. I’m honored to work with them because they have the courage and strength to respond to constructive feedback.Building on their research, Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You’ll hear more on this in April. We’re working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we’ve received. This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue.The reaction to the release of Mass Effect 3 has been unprecedented. On one hand, some of our loyal fans are passionately expressing their displeasure about how their game concluded; we care about this feedback, and we’re planning to directly address it. However, most folks appear to agree that the game as a whole is exceptional, with more than 75 critics giving it a perfect review score and a review average in the mid-90s. Net, I’m proud of the team, but we can and must always strive to do better.Some of the criticism that has been delivered in the heat of passion by our most ardent fans, even if founded on valid principles, such as seeking more clarity to questions or looking for more closure, for example – has unfortunately become destructive rather than constructive. We listen and will respond to constructive criticism, but much as we will not tolerate individual attacks on our team members, we will not support or respond to destructive commentary.If you are a Mass Effect fan and have input for the team – we respect your opinion and want to hear it. We’re committed to address your constructive feedback as best we can. In return, I’d ask that you help us do that by supporting what I truly believe is the best game BioWare has yet crafted. I urge you to do your own research: play the game, finish it and tell us what you think. Tell your friends if you feel it’s a good game as a whole. Trust that we are doing our damndest, as always, to address your feedback. As artists, we care about our fans deeply and we appreciate your support.Thank you for your feedback – we are listening.Ray